It probably doesn't belong in a top 10 list (as others have mentioned, CS, Team Fortress, etc are more likely candidates), but my friends and I really love Mr. Pant's Excessive Overkill for Quake III, Elite Force, and all the Unreal Tournament games. The feature sets vary slightly from game to game, but the premise is always the same: Make every gun fire ridiculously fast and have everything explode. Rapid fire rocket launcher? Sure. Dual-wielding chain guns with explosive bullets? Why not? A sniper rifle that can blow up a tank? You got it.
Realism and balance went out the window with Excessive, and it did hurt the game at some points if you were trying to play deathmatch in close-quarters maps. However, in large, open team games I can't imagine any mod that has made the game more fun.
Defense in Starcraft is a close runner up. When we didn't have the time to invest in a full-blown starcraft game, a few defense maps that had us rapidly respawning units and trying to fend off hordes of CPU enemies could fill the time beautifully.
And of course, we should congratulate any co-op mod in any game ever. Thank you co-op mod developers for stepping up and putting in such an important mode that "professional" developers often don't bother with. The same goes for skirmish AI mod developers, who make comp stomps actually fun in RTSs with braindead, cheating AI.
I think what he means is this: When you buy a game on Steam it's tied to your account, so even if you get a new computer, lose your discs, and move across the world, you can still just log onto steam and download your game data again. In fact, I can install a game I bought on every computer in my hometown, and Steam won't complain. Granted, only one computer can PLAY the game at a time, but the point is you don't have to worry about having to call tech support because Steam decided you were no longer allowed to download the data you bought.
I haven't used Direct2Drive, but I know Capcom's online store sets a hard limit on the number of downloads you can do of a game you purchased (15 I believe). If you use a download manager that makes multiple connections simultaneously, you can quickly lose all of those extra downloads and you're stuck with bugging tech support to get your game. Even if you don't, I can see using up those 15 downloads over the course of 10 years.
So yes, if you buy a physical game with discs that doesn't follow the current trend of setting a limited number of installs, and you take good care of those discs for as long as you own them (keep them scratch free, don't lose them or the CD-key), then unlimited installs doesn't seem like a very interesting feature. However, for those of us who lose things over time, unlimited downloads is quite a nice feature.
TFA article implies that the Tom Clancy franchises (presumably Rainbow Six, Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, HAWX, and Endwar) will stay separate franchises, but future editions will tie into one overarching storyline. It also implies that Endwar will be a sort of hub where the other games' events can be affected.
There's a lot of ideas and BS being thrown around and not a lot of hard fact, but I'm supposing the idea is that owners of multiple Tom Clancy games (the latest versions of course) will be able to deepen the story modes of their games by having events in say, Splinter Cell, be input into Endwar, triggering a mission to happen slightly differently in Rainbow Six.
Example? Well, (and this is just speculation), your Splinter Cell character assassinates the evil despot of ClancyClicheTerroristastan, but doesn't quite make the job as clean and quiet as he should have. The capital city erupts into riots and violence. Endwar takes this input and feeds it to Rainbow Six, telling your Rainbow Six team that that covert hostage rescue mission isn't going to be so hush-hush anymore.
I suppose if you're really into Clancy single-player modes and have copious amounts of money, this could be quite a cool toy for you. Hopefully there's something there for the multiplayer fiends and those that aren't willing to shell out $300 for the ultimate Clancyverse.
I disagree with the idea that people aren't scared anymore. Horror is like humor, it has to be surprising to be effective. The first part of Doom 3 was scary for me because I was caught off guard when stuff jumped out at me. But eventually I learned to constantly watch all sides and I got pretty fast at switching between gun and flashlight. The problem was there were monsters in EVERY ROOM. I could even accurately estimate how far I would get into a room before I was attacked. There was one good level, and it went like this: for the first third or so there were no monsters, just creepy ambient sounds and dark rooms. When a gasket blew it scared the hell out of me because I felt uneasy the whole time. I saw shadows crawling across the ceiling, but nothing was alive. I was hoping Doom 3 did that more, but it went back to pure monster closets afterward.
I'm not a horror connoisseur, but the scariest game I've played thus far is the Afraid of Monsters mod for Half Life. I gave up on the game before I even fought a single monster. Why? Because as soon as the 2nd level loaded I felt incredibly unsafe. There were tons of doors around me, in front of me, and behind me. Any one of them could spew out a bunch of monsters. But none did, yet. The worst part was the ambient sound that kept me completely uneasy. It wasn't obvious stuff like monsters or whatever, it was just a carefully crafted sound that made me uncomfortable the entire time I played. To compound the issue, I wasn't a superpowerful space marine. In the game I was an unarmed drug addict who was hallucinating. Even in broad daylight, with other people in the house, I just couldn't bring myself to play it. I tried several 2 minute plays before I gave up. It was too scary for me. I never saw a single monster. That is good horror.
The problem with encryption is that you know it's encrypted. If suddenly all messages sent are garbled groups of characters, the government will think something's up and may outlaw private encryption (government encryption is, of course, still okay). The best code is the one that no one is aware of.
This may be the future. I imagine a mix of clever computer algorithms and understood slang will be necessary to secure messages: Look and act like a dumb slob, all the while getting your message across.
Personally I'm not interested until my creatures can have IKEA furniture and Starbucks coffee. Then again, given the rate at which EA expansion packs come out, I won't have to wait too long.;)
I disagree with your idea that "Thinking" should not always be fun. You're implying that math and science are inherently not fun, but students should study them anyway. This is false. Plenty of people (including myself and hopefully many/.ers who are into the sciences) enjoy thinking about challenging computer science, mathematics, physics, and other science problems. If you tackle these problems and do not enjoy tackling them, consider another career.
Here's the problem: Math and science courses in elementary or middle school are BORING. In 8th grade I took my first algebra course. That means I spent 7 years doing boring arithmetic calculations. The kicker? 8th grade is the earliest one could take algebra I in my school. You could put it off for a good couple of years. I remember constantly asking my teachers what I would use this math for and do you know what the two most common answers were? "I don't know" and "When you're a math teacher." Seriously.
If you think something is boring, then you shouldn't study it as a career choice. But the biggest math education that many high school students are getting is that math is BORING, and if math were just what was taught in high school, THEY'D BE RIGHT.
One more thing--the arts have been getting the shaft too. It's considered an nonessential, easy thing to cut when schools want/need money. This means that the only art experience people will be getting now is from popular music and film. I'd rather they at least know the history of music, film, and the arts, and be introduced to some really interesting stuff instead of the next Beverly Hills Chihuahua.
You are absolutely spot on. I just signed up for a youtube account JUST to have the computer read me some colorful comments. =p
It's done in a Microsoft Sam-like voice. Poking around the site doesn't seem to reveal any options for changing the voice, but on the bright side the system is really easy to use. When posting a comment you have the text field and three buttons under it: First "Audio preview," then "Post Comment," and "Discard." Hopefully they'll change "Post Comment" to "Post" so that Audio preview will be the largest button, causing the quick and the lazy to sometimes accidentally hear their comment. (=
In addition, the sheer length and breadth (and validity) of the form shows what a monumental task combating spam is. Even if you chop out the philosophical section, every one of the possible solution types (technical, legislative, market-driven, vigilante) has several points of failure that render suggested solutions useless.
And even if one were to come up with the best possible solution, the form would still be valid because you can't uncheck "Asshats.";)
Handbrake is DVD reencoding software. It may work with your DVDs, but DRM can easily trip it up, so you'd want to find another program that rips the DVD bit for bit but takes out any copy protection. Encode the result to your codec of choice and delete the lossless rip.
There's DVD Fab Decryptor, the free (but effective) portion of a commercial DVD ripping program. Oddly enough they haven't been sued out of existence yet, so my guess is they just haven't shown up on the radar.
It would be nice if Real or Apple or Microsoft finagled a way to put easy DVD ripping features into their respective media players. DVD ripping would really take off and be a big win for consumers. It would no longer be solely for power users who "know where to look."
As a bonus for the best Windows Mobile, app, you ALSO get two Omnia phones and a 40 inch HDTV. Not bad. If I knew about it earlier I would have totally have whipped up a.NET calculator app.;)
Everything I've been taught thus far in schools/college about going into the workforce is how to make myself most attractive to an employer. The schools I've been to are mainly worried about putting you in an office with a salary, rather than making sure it's a good fit. Haven't heard about contract negotiation, or really anything else except how to get hired. I'm in the US by the way.
Sure it's within their rights to not redistribute. Sure, it's not within my rights to redistribute it via piracy for them if they don't. However, there are times when there is demand for a product, but the copyright holder doesn't feel if it's enough to warrant rereleasing said product. In the case of video games, this means that people who demand the product will have to hunt down a used copy. Used copies are legal to buy and sell, at least in the US, thanks to the first-sale doctrine.
Thinking 15-20 years into the future, why punish consumers who may not even have been born at the game's release by making the used copy that they hunted down lack content that was common 20 years ago? Using the "cult classic" example, it's possible that the company could be just sitting on the copyright (it's not like copyrights evaporate particularly quickly) and not releasing anything. Again, well within their rights not to rerelease, but I take issue with essentially chipping out parts of game content. Sure you hurt used game stores, but you'll be hurting tomorrow's retro gaming enthusiasts and bargain hunters. Give them a broken used game and they might be miffed and less likely to buy your new game.
Right now it's practically impossible to find a new copy of System Shock/System Shock II. Despite the popularity of Bioshock, no major retailer or legal download service offers it. People who really want it will get it used from people who bought it years ago. Can you imagine if there was a mechanism where one or two of the levels in System Shock II only appeared as a download after first install? Granted, I'm talking about singleplayer levels, but it could happen. There could be a side quest or bonus mission that gives a deeper understanding of the plot or characters, but only to people who bought it new when it was sold new. What do you do for the rest of the players? Tell them to read the Story FAQ on GameFAQs? Not the same experience.
Sure, this is all within their rights. But it's mean-spirited and I refuse to support companies that pull that kind of scam. I encourage all gamers to do the same. You are not getting a bonus, you are getting your games gutted.
Heh, indeed. I remember the Mechwarrior II manual was positively fat and had a title like "Code of the Warrior Caste" to make it seem like a standard-issue guide to cadet pilots. It wasn't just a really detailed manual, it was part of the immersion. Six years old and I was already swearing loyalty to Jade Falcon, vowing to attain the rank of Khan! Plus, it made for good reading while mom and dad dragged me through their shopping trip.
I purchased Neverwinter Nights Diamond, which seems to have been designed to put as much game data (game + expansions + bonus campaigns) in a box with the lowest price. So unfortunately, I didn't see any real manual save for a brief install guide. However, I assure you the game is still fun.;)
15 years from now, when people are picking up the "classics" from this generation, they won't get the full experience that people today got because the game may not be being sold new.
I like this analogy better: It's like you buy an album, and you get a free downloadable track that's a super awesome track. You got it because you bought the album new. Somehow, the RIAA comes up with a magic uncrackable un-analog-recordable DRM that means this bonus track never finds its way to torrent sites. Now 15 years later the original album goes out of print, but it's a bit of a "cult classic." People download the CD from torrent sites or iTunes and enjoy it, but nobody at the label ever bothered to put the "super awesome track" in the iTunes version of the album. Well sure, you have all the tracks from the OFFICIAL album tracklist, but that super awesome free track that everybody raved about 15 years ago is lost in time and space, unless somebody at the label decides to confer the priviledge of hearing that track again to you.
Until all game distribution goes digital (and even when it does), I believe some of these little extra bits will get lost. Personally I'd prefer it if the game came with a really nice poster or plastic figure or something in the REGULAR version of the game. Not the $100 "Collector's Edition," I mean the $60 regular shmuck's copy. It's a nice incentive for customers who buy it new (who's going to sell it to a used game store along with the plastic figure?), and it doesn't take away from the game experience if you don't.
If you look at the average anime rack in DVD stores, new releases are packed with toys and art books and soundtracks and all kinds of stuff to convince you to pay $30 for 4 25-minute episodes. That's the way to do it.
That's the thing--consoles are at the point where they have those advantages. You can plug a USB mouse and keyboard into a PS3. It comes with a decently sized hard drive by default (I don't play too many MMO's, but I've never played one that took even close to 40GB of space). Copy protection would be irrelevant here too. Sony technically could be a dick and tie Everquest 3 to your particular PS3, but technologically there's nothing keeping them from letting you download the client for free on any PS3 as long as you have valid account info.
I am skeptical about the PSP though. It has storage, but no keyboard/ mouse. It's possible to come up with a gameplay interface that doesn't require a keyboard or mouse, but I don't think voice chat only is the way to go.
(I did RTFA). That's what I said--it makes sense in an MMO, especially since a. You can see yourself and b. MMO's are more social in general. It's great to show off your gear in a city or to whichever shmuck happens to walk by. But this is an FPS, which as far as I can see from the site doesn't have MMO trappings like cities or general social areas. It seems to be very much a deathmatch FPS, which means that you're less likely to be standing around enjoying the eye candy and more likely to be running, finding cover, and shooting.
Plus there's the vanity aspect of admiring yourself all clad in epic gear.;) I'm not trying to get into an argument, I'm just asking if this will work as well in something that's less social and more action-oriented. I suppose if Combat Arms designs the game such that people see some of the same players over and over, it might work though.
Why would I care what my character looks like in a first person shooter? Looking at the combat arms website, it suggests that the stuff that you buy is cosmetic, which makes sense in an MMO or even a third-person stylized action game like GunZ, but in a military style shooter? You won't be able to see your character in game, so the extra stuff is only a display of wealth. Plus (and this may be simple personal preference), customized military gear doesn't seem as exciting as shining armor or flashy action anti-hero clothes.
That said I hope it works out for them, but I'll take my $50 games with everything included.
Digg: Yapima Digg (the poem)
Youtube: No results
Myspace: http://freediskspace.com/ also in 2nd is Myspace.com.au, a home improvement site.
Facebook: Environmental Science and Public Policy "facebook" on Harvard's website.
Twitter: A nature site? Even viewing the "archived" version takes me to the 2006 social networking site, so I'm just going by the title.
del.icio.us: No results
PS3: A news story discussing the PS3 circa the PS2 launch. Also, apparently Sony owned the domain name 'ps3.net'
Xbox 360: A site called "360Net," with people anticipating the original Xbox. Now defunct, apparently.
Wii: Williamette Industries, they make forest products supposedly. The other results are equally irrelevant.
Nice slice of pre-web 2.0 life.
Chilling scene from an excellent book. But I imagine this release will be much worse--the victims will be forced to dust off their resumes and have to slog through another job hunt.;)
Slashdot Mirror
That's why I ticked the "no karma bonus" checkbox. I just couldn't resist. (:
So what you would be saying, in effect, is that comparing open-source code to closed-source code is like... Comparing apples and oranges? (:
It probably doesn't belong in a top 10 list (as others have mentioned, CS, Team Fortress, etc are more likely candidates), but my friends and I really love Mr. Pant's Excessive Overkill for Quake III, Elite Force, and all the Unreal Tournament games. The feature sets vary slightly from game to game, but the premise is always the same: Make every gun fire ridiculously fast and have everything explode. Rapid fire rocket launcher? Sure. Dual-wielding chain guns with explosive bullets? Why not? A sniper rifle that can blow up a tank? You got it.
Realism and balance went out the window with Excessive, and it did hurt the game at some points if you were trying to play deathmatch in close-quarters maps. However, in large, open team games I can't imagine any mod that has made the game more fun.
Defense in Starcraft is a close runner up. When we didn't have the time to invest in a full-blown starcraft game, a few defense maps that had us rapidly respawning units and trying to fend off hordes of CPU enemies could fill the time beautifully.
And of course, we should congratulate any co-op mod in any game ever. Thank you co-op mod developers for stepping up and putting in such an important mode that "professional" developers often don't bother with. The same goes for skirmish AI mod developers, who make comp stomps actually fun in RTSs with braindead, cheating AI.
I think what he means is this: When you buy a game on Steam it's tied to your account, so even if you get a new computer, lose your discs, and move across the world, you can still just log onto steam and download your game data again. In fact, I can install a game I bought on every computer in my hometown, and Steam won't complain. Granted, only one computer can PLAY the game at a time, but the point is you don't have to worry about having to call tech support because Steam decided you were no longer allowed to download the data you bought.
I haven't used Direct2Drive, but I know Capcom's online store sets a hard limit on the number of downloads you can do of a game you purchased (15 I believe). If you use a download manager that makes multiple connections simultaneously, you can quickly lose all of those extra downloads and you're stuck with bugging tech support to get your game. Even if you don't, I can see using up those 15 downloads over the course of 10 years.
So yes, if you buy a physical game with discs that doesn't follow the current trend of setting a limited number of installs, and you take good care of those discs for as long as you own them (keep them scratch free, don't lose them or the CD-key), then unlimited installs doesn't seem like a very interesting feature. However, for those of us who lose things over time, unlimited downloads is quite a nice feature.
TFA article implies that the Tom Clancy franchises (presumably Rainbow Six, Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, HAWX, and Endwar) will stay separate franchises, but future editions will tie into one overarching storyline. It also implies that Endwar will be a sort of hub where the other games' events can be affected.
There's a lot of ideas and BS being thrown around and not a lot of hard fact, but I'm supposing the idea is that owners of multiple Tom Clancy games (the latest versions of course) will be able to deepen the story modes of their games by having events in say, Splinter Cell, be input into Endwar, triggering a mission to happen slightly differently in Rainbow Six.
Example? Well, (and this is just speculation), your Splinter Cell character assassinates the evil despot of ClancyClicheTerroristastan, but doesn't quite make the job as clean and quiet as he should have. The capital city erupts into riots and violence. Endwar takes this input and feeds it to Rainbow Six, telling your Rainbow Six team that that covert hostage rescue mission isn't going to be so hush-hush anymore.
I suppose if you're really into Clancy single-player modes and have copious amounts of money, this could be quite a cool toy for you. Hopefully there's something there for the multiplayer fiends and those that aren't willing to shell out $300 for the ultimate Clancyverse.
I disagree with the idea that people aren't scared anymore. Horror is like humor, it has to be surprising to be effective. The first part of Doom 3 was scary for me because I was caught off guard when stuff jumped out at me. But eventually I learned to constantly watch all sides and I got pretty fast at switching between gun and flashlight. The problem was there were monsters in EVERY ROOM. I could even accurately estimate how far I would get into a room before I was attacked. There was one good level, and it went like this: for the first third or so there were no monsters, just creepy ambient sounds and dark rooms. When a gasket blew it scared the hell out of me because I felt uneasy the whole time. I saw shadows crawling across the ceiling, but nothing was alive. I was hoping Doom 3 did that more, but it went back to pure monster closets afterward.
I'm not a horror connoisseur, but the scariest game I've played thus far is the Afraid of Monsters mod for Half Life. I gave up on the game before I even fought a single monster. Why? Because as soon as the 2nd level loaded I felt incredibly unsafe. There were tons of doors around me, in front of me, and behind me. Any one of them could spew out a bunch of monsters. But none did, yet. The worst part was the ambient sound that kept me completely uneasy. It wasn't obvious stuff like monsters or whatever, it was just a carefully crafted sound that made me uncomfortable the entire time I played. To compound the issue, I wasn't a superpowerful space marine. In the game I was an unarmed drug addict who was hallucinating. Even in broad daylight, with other people in the house, I just couldn't bring myself to play it. I tried several 2 minute plays before I gave up. It was too scary for me. I never saw a single monster. That is good horror.
The problem with encryption is that you know it's encrypted. If suddenly all messages sent are garbled groups of characters, the government will think something's up and may outlaw private encryption (government encryption is, of course, still okay). The best code is the one that no one is aware of.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steganography
This may be the future. I imagine a mix of clever computer algorithms and understood slang will be necessary to secure messages: Look and act like a dumb slob, all the while getting your message across.
Personally I'm not interested until my creatures can have IKEA furniture and Starbucks coffee. Then again, given the rate at which EA expansion packs come out, I won't have to wait too long. ;)
I disagree with your idea that "Thinking" should not always be fun. You're implying that math and science are inherently not fun, but students should study them anyway. This is false. Plenty of people (including myself and hopefully many /.ers who are into the sciences) enjoy thinking about challenging computer science, mathematics, physics, and other science problems. If you tackle these problems and do not enjoy tackling them, consider another career.
Here's the problem: Math and science courses in elementary or middle school are BORING. In 8th grade I took my first algebra course. That means I spent 7 years doing boring arithmetic calculations. The kicker? 8th grade is the earliest one could take algebra I in my school. You could put it off for a good couple of years. I remember constantly asking my teachers what I would use this math for and do you know what the two most common answers were? "I don't know" and "When you're a math teacher." Seriously.
If you think something is boring, then you shouldn't study it as a career choice. But the biggest math education that many high school students are getting is that math is BORING, and if math were just what was taught in high school, THEY'D BE RIGHT.
One more thing--the arts have been getting the shaft too. It's considered an nonessential, easy thing to cut when schools want/need money. This means that the only art experience people will be getting now is from popular music and film. I'd rather they at least know the history of music, film, and the arts, and be introduced to some really interesting stuff instead of the next Beverly Hills Chihuahua.
You are absolutely spot on. I just signed up for a youtube account JUST to have the computer read me some colorful comments. =p
It's done in a Microsoft Sam-like voice. Poking around the site doesn't seem to reveal any options for changing the voice, but on the bright side the system is really easy to use. When posting a comment you have the text field and three buttons under it: First "Audio preview," then "Post Comment," and "Discard." Hopefully they'll change "Post Comment" to "Post" so that Audio preview will be the largest button, causing the quick and the lazy to sometimes accidentally hear their comment. (=
In addition, the sheer length and breadth (and validity) of the form shows what a monumental task combating spam is. Even if you chop out the philosophical section, every one of the possible solution types (technical, legislative, market-driven, vigilante) has several points of failure that render suggested solutions useless.
;)
And even if one were to come up with the best possible solution, the form would still be valid because you can't uncheck "Asshats."
Handbrake is DVD reencoding software. It may work with your DVDs, but DRM can easily trip it up, so you'd want to find another program that rips the DVD bit for bit but takes out any copy protection. Encode the result to your codec of choice and delete the lossless rip.
There's DVD Fab Decryptor, the free (but effective) portion of a commercial DVD ripping program. Oddly enough they haven't been sued out of existence yet, so my guess is they just haven't shown up on the radar.
It would be nice if Real or Apple or Microsoft finagled a way to put easy DVD ripping features into their respective media players. DVD ripping would really take off and be a big win for consumers. It would no longer be solely for power users who "know where to look."
As a bonus for the best Windows Mobile, app, you ALSO get two Omnia phones and a 40 inch HDTV. Not bad. If I knew about it earlier I would have totally have whipped up a .NET calculator app. ;)
Everything I've been taught thus far in schools/college about going into the workforce is how to make myself most attractive to an employer. The schools I've been to are mainly worried about putting you in an office with a salary, rather than making sure it's a good fit. Haven't heard about contract negotiation, or really anything else except how to get hired. I'm in the US by the way.
Sure it's within their rights to not redistribute. Sure, it's not within my rights to redistribute it via piracy for them if they don't. However, there are times when there is demand for a product, but the copyright holder doesn't feel if it's enough to warrant rereleasing said product. In the case of video games, this means that people who demand the product will have to hunt down a used copy. Used copies are legal to buy and sell, at least in the US, thanks to the first-sale doctrine.
Thinking 15-20 years into the future, why punish consumers who may not even have been born at the game's release by making the used copy that they hunted down lack content that was common 20 years ago? Using the "cult classic" example, it's possible that the company could be just sitting on the copyright (it's not like copyrights evaporate particularly quickly) and not releasing anything. Again, well within their rights not to rerelease, but I take issue with essentially chipping out parts of game content. Sure you hurt used game stores, but you'll be hurting tomorrow's retro gaming enthusiasts and bargain hunters. Give them a broken used game and they might be miffed and less likely to buy your new game.
Right now it's practically impossible to find a new copy of System Shock/System Shock II. Despite the popularity of Bioshock, no major retailer or legal download service offers it. People who really want it will get it used from people who bought it years ago. Can you imagine if there was a mechanism where one or two of the levels in System Shock II only appeared as a download after first install? Granted, I'm talking about singleplayer levels, but it could happen. There could be a side quest or bonus mission that gives a deeper understanding of the plot or characters, but only to people who bought it new when it was sold new. What do you do for the rest of the players? Tell them to read the Story FAQ on GameFAQs? Not the same experience.
Sure, this is all within their rights. But it's mean-spirited and I refuse to support companies that pull that kind of scam. I encourage all gamers to do the same. You are not getting a bonus, you are getting your games gutted.
Heh, indeed. I remember the Mechwarrior II manual was positively fat and had a title like "Code of the Warrior Caste" to make it seem like a standard-issue guide to cadet pilots. It wasn't just a really detailed manual, it was part of the immersion. Six years old and I was already swearing loyalty to Jade Falcon, vowing to attain the rank of Khan! Plus, it made for good reading while mom and dad dragged me through their shopping trip.
;)
I purchased Neverwinter Nights Diamond, which seems to have been designed to put as much game data (game + expansions + bonus campaigns) in a box with the lowest price. So unfortunately, I didn't see any real manual save for a brief install guide. However, I assure you the game is still fun.
15 years from now, when people are picking up the "classics" from this generation, they won't get the full experience that people today got because the game may not be being sold new.
I like this analogy better: It's like you buy an album, and you get a free downloadable track that's a super awesome track. You got it because you bought the album new. Somehow, the RIAA comes up with a magic uncrackable un-analog-recordable DRM that means this bonus track never finds its way to torrent sites. Now 15 years later the original album goes out of print, but it's a bit of a "cult classic." People download the CD from torrent sites or iTunes and enjoy it, but nobody at the label ever bothered to put the "super awesome track" in the iTunes version of the album. Well sure, you have all the tracks from the OFFICIAL album tracklist, but that super awesome free track that everybody raved about 15 years ago is lost in time and space, unless somebody at the label decides to confer the priviledge of hearing that track again to you.
Until all game distribution goes digital (and even when it does), I believe some of these little extra bits will get lost. Personally I'd prefer it if the game came with a really nice poster or plastic figure or something in the REGULAR version of the game. Not the $100 "Collector's Edition," I mean the $60 regular shmuck's copy. It's a nice incentive for customers who buy it new (who's going to sell it to a used game store along with the plastic figure?), and it doesn't take away from the game experience if you don't.
If you look at the average anime rack in DVD stores, new releases are packed with toys and art books and soundtracks and all kinds of stuff to convince you to pay $30 for 4 25-minute episodes. That's the way to do it.
That's the thing--consoles are at the point where they have those advantages. You can plug a USB mouse and keyboard into a PS3. It comes with a decently sized hard drive by default (I don't play too many MMO's, but I've never played one that took even close to 40GB of space). Copy protection would be irrelevant here too. Sony technically could be a dick and tie Everquest 3 to your particular PS3, but technologically there's nothing keeping them from letting you download the client for free on any PS3 as long as you have valid account info.
I am skeptical about the PSP though. It has storage, but no keyboard/ mouse. It's possible to come up with a gameplay interface that doesn't require a keyboard or mouse, but I don't think voice chat only is the way to go.
Humans are remarkably good at training other creatures to do stuff. Heck, we have a fleet of storks to deliver all of our babies for us!
(I did RTFA). That's what I said--it makes sense in an MMO, especially since a. You can see yourself and b. MMO's are more social in general. It's great to show off your gear in a city or to whichever shmuck happens to walk by. But this is an FPS, which as far as I can see from the site doesn't have MMO trappings like cities or general social areas. It seems to be very much a deathmatch FPS, which means that you're less likely to be standing around enjoying the eye candy and more likely to be running, finding cover, and shooting.
;) I'm not trying to get into an argument, I'm just asking if this will work as well in something that's less social and more action-oriented. I suppose if Combat Arms designs the game such that people see some of the same players over and over, it might work though.
Plus there's the vanity aspect of admiring yourself all clad in epic gear.
Why would I care what my character looks like in a first person shooter? Looking at the combat arms website, it suggests that the stuff that you buy is cosmetic, which makes sense in an MMO or even a third-person stylized action game like GunZ, but in a military style shooter? You won't be able to see your character in game, so the extra stuff is only a display of wealth. Plus (and this may be simple personal preference), customized military gear doesn't seem as exciting as shining armor or flashy action anti-hero clothes.
That said I hope it works out for them, but I'll take my $50 games with everything included.
Well, I mean, how do you know those bloody, mutilated genitals do NOT belong to George W. Bush? =p
Digg: Yapima Digg (the poem)
Youtube: No results
Myspace: http://freediskspace.com/ also in 2nd is Myspace.com.au, a home improvement site.
Facebook: Environmental Science and Public Policy "facebook" on Harvard's website.
Twitter: A nature site? Even viewing the "archived" version takes me to the 2006 social networking site, so I'm just going by the title.
del.icio.us: No results
PS3: A news story discussing the PS3 circa the PS2 launch. Also, apparently Sony owned the domain name 'ps3.net'
Xbox 360: A site called "360Net," with people anticipating the original Xbox. Now defunct, apparently.
Wii: Williamette Industries, they make forest products supposedly. The other results are equally irrelevant.
Nice slice of pre-web 2.0 life.
Chilling scene from an excellent book. But I imagine this release will be much worse--the victims will be forced to dust off their resumes and have to slog through another job hunt. ;)